A Little Bit Of Everything Blog

 On April 15, 1963 at about 8 a.m., Geraldine Patton Williams was found decapitated at age 43 in her small family-owned meat market in West Frankfort Heights of Southern Illinois. She probably officially died on April 14th, if before midnight. The police entered Patton's Market located at 1716 E. Main St. when she did not open as usual that morning. They found her body dressed in a bra and nylons, her blouse was found neatly folded on a crate of bottles with the electric saw that was used as a meat cutter still running. Her torso and body were on the floor laying belly down, while her head, cleanly cut at her shoulders, was propped on a shelf next to the meat cutter. Despondent over the death of her husband eight years prior, it was thought that she somehow swung herself onto the waist high meat cutter neck first, decapitating herself. Geraldine had gone through hundreds of her store's receipts the night before she was found, and it was assumed there was no robbery from the sto...